Title Unification (Ephesians 1:10-11)
Faith is living like a man who has lost his mind after discovering how amazing the glory of the Lord is. Being out of one's mind here refers to a state in which nothing but the glory of the Lord can be seen because the things of the world are so low compared to the glory of the Lord. Take Peter as an example. Jesus took three of his disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration. There, Jesus appeared transformed. What does Peter do when he sees the glory? I was blown away. The first thing I said was that I like this place. I just built a hut and I live here. This is what heaven looks like. It was a human response to the glory of the Lord. So we want you to know that we inherit this country and that we already live in it. Living by believing in this is the life of faith. Those who have met the Lord know that He is our Lord and that He is our life, and the world cannot see Him.
Today's text will continue to focus on the words of verse 10. He meant that all things in heaven and on earth would be unified. What do you think the unification will be centered on? It is expressed as in Christ. God's plan is to reorganize and create a new world in Christ. Because up to this point, the world has all been self-centered. It was a world where people believed in their own judgment and only believed in their own words. He was the best and let things go and be judged in his own good and for his own good. This was the result of sin. But God is creating a new world centered on the Lord. This is what redemption is. In other words, it is a new heaven and a new earth. In other words, to be united in Christ means to give up everything that you think is your own in your world. From now on, he wants to create a world centered on Jesus. This is God's plan. So, the life of faith is not for me, but for the Lord.
Up to this point, our faith has called Jesus to make everything work for us. When I listen to Jesus, I do not lift it for fear of losing it. Just pretend to listen. But now, to believe in Jesus means to give up all my thoughts and judgments of my values. It means to live only for the Lord. In other words, the word of the Lord is the standard and the center of everything. In the end, the kingdom of Jesus, the unified kingdom centered on Jesus, collapsed the standards of the world. All values in the world have been destroyed. An example of one of them appears in the text. The words “we” and “you” appear in the text. Who are we referring to here? Refers to Jewish Christians. Then who would you be? It refers to Gentile believers.
There is no one to stop it. So what did you do? we were scheduled And it became his business. It wasn't what we wanted to do, it was what he wanted to do, so he made us his own. What are we going to do with those entrepreneurs? It is said that it may become the praise of his glory. To be a Christian means to be a servant sent to do the will of the Lord. We no longer have what we call our lives. Because the Lord is a dictator. We exist only to reveal Him. Whatever we do, drink or eat, we exist only for the glory of the Lord. Because I do not live, but the Lord lives. If so, what kind of life would such a life look like?
It's not living up to my standards anymore. It is not living by the standards of the world. There is no joy in anything other than Jesus. Anything else that doesn't give my life meaning. I no longer live for myself. Life or death, it belongs to Christ. But living like this is not easy. That is why the epistles continue to speak of suffering. The testimony of the Bible is that if we live according to the gospel, we are bound to suffer. Nevertheless, the disciples went that way. Because what he received was so great. Because the suffering we are experiencing now cannot be compared with the glory that will be given to us in the future. Now we must repent. We have to look back on how much we have been living our life of faith centered on ourselves. Suffer hardships in this world. A great new world awaits you. Let's survive 50 years. Knowing that a country without tears, without disease, and without pain awaits us, let's look to the Lord and live.